English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

"S" Word Origins

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

“S” Word Origins

From Middle English scolehous, a straightforward compound of school and house.

Derived from the verb school, meaning to teach or train.

From Middle English skolemayster, a compound of school and master.

A compound of school and mate.

From school + mistress.

From school + room.

A compound of school and teacher.

From school + time.

A compound of school and work.

A compound of school and yard.

First recorded around 1715; likely from a dialect word "scoon," meaning to skim across water.

Borrowed from German Schopenhauer.

From German Schrader

Borrowed from German Schröder.

Compare German dialectal Schrute (“turkey”).

A blend of schlockey + stick.

Borrowed from German Schubert.

From German Schultheiß, "a mayor in medieval Germany."

Common German and Jewish surname, from the archaic Schulze (“mayor, headman”), similar to Schultheiß. Compare Schultz, and the common Slavic form Sulc, Szulc.

From German Schumacher, "shoemaker."

Borrowed from German Schumann.

From German Schuster.

From Dutch, related to German Schüler, "scholar, student"; a doublet of scholar.

From German schwarz, "black"; a doublet of Swart.

From German schwarz, "black."

From the German surname Schwarzenegger, used generically after the fame of bodybuilder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Borrowed from German Schweitzer.

From Late Latin sciatica, ultimately from Greek iskhiadikos, "of the hip," from iskhion, "hip."

From Old French science, from Latin scientia, "knowledge," from scire, "to know."

Latin scientia (“knowledge”) + suffix -al.

Borrowed from French scientifique, from Medieval Latin scientificus, "pertaining to science."

From scientific plus the adverb-forming suffix -ally.

Coined in 1834 by the English philosopher William Whewell, modeled on "artist," to replace the older terms "natural philosopher" and "man of science."

From Scientology plus the suffix -ist.

From Latin scientia, "knowledge," plus the suffix -ology, "study of."

Borrowed from Latin scīlicet.

Borrowed from Latin scilla, from Ancient Greek σκίλλα (skílla). Doublet of squill.

First recorded in English in 1548, from French cimeterre or Italian scimitarra, ultimately traced back to a Persian word for "sword."

Existing in English since the 17th century; borrowed from Latin scintilla (“spark”).

Borrowed from Latin scintillātus, past participle of scintillāre (“to sparkle, glitter, gleam, flash”), from scintilla (“a spark”).

From the verb scintillate plus the suffix -ing.

From Late Latin sciolus + -ist. First attested at the beginning of the 17th century.

From Old French cion, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "sprout" — the family sense grew out of the idea of a new shoot springing from an old family tree.

From Middle English cysour, altered from an earlier form of "scissors," influenced by the Latin word scindere, "to split."

From scissor + -ing.

Late Latin · 1500

From Old French cisoirs, going back to Late Latin cīsōria, "cutting tools." The modern spelling with "sc-" came later, in the 1500s, when people wrongly linked the word to Latin scissor, meaning "tailor" or "cutter."

From Late Latin scissura (“fissure”), from Latin scissurus (“about to split”), from scindo (“to split”).

Borrowed from New Latin sclera, from Ancient Greek σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”).